spencer



Letters Patent No. 75,805, dated March 24, 1868.

. i IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINE FOB. CUTTING TOBACCO.

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T0 ALL WHOM IT MAY OONGERN:

Be it known that I, L. W. SPENCER, ofthe city and county of New-York, inthe State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Machinery for Producing FineCut Tobacco; and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full and exact description thereof. I

My invention relates to the means forcompressing and feeding forward theproperly sweetened and otherwise prepared leaves of. tobacco, to meansfor maintaining a very sharp condition of the cutters, and to means foravoiding the accumulation of gummy or adhesivematter upon the cutters.

I will rst proceed .to describe what I considerthe best means forcarrying out my invention, and will afterwards designate. the pointswhich I believe to be new.

The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification;

Figure 1 is' a front view.

Figure 2 is a side view.

Figure 3 is a plan view; and

Figure 4 is a view of a portion, as seen from within.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures.Tints are employed merely to aid in distinguishing parts, and do notnecessarily imply differences of material. Thematerial of the metallicparts may be iron and steel. The framing orcase may bc made of hardwood.

A is a xed framework, which may be bolted down, or otherwise firmlysecured upon' the door. B B are the two sides of a stationary box orcasing, mounted upon the framework A, and between which the tobacco isintroduced. These sides are not exactly parallel; they are a littlewider apart at the feed-rollers. B is a mouth-piece or plate, preferablyof iron or steel, through which the compressed and compacted tobacco isslowly discharged, and is cut by cutters traversing across, as will bereadily understood. This mouth-pieceB is bolted to the sides B B, andconnects them firmly at the front end. C is an arbor or shaft, driven bya belt not represented, running on the pulley C', and impelled by asteam-engine or other suitable power. I)1 D2 are stout arms, veryrigidly secured on the axis C, and carrying knives al d, which, as theshaft C revolves, are carried in close proximity across the face ofthemouth-piece B. These knives sever the tobacco as it is slowly forced outthrough the said mouth-piece. E is a. broad emery-wheel or emery-roller.It is mounted in bearings supported on the framework as represented, :dis vrotated rapidly by a round belt, not represented, which runs'on thepulley E', on the prolongedend of the shaft.'m Each knife touches thisrapidly-revolving emery-wheel at each revolutiomand the action of thegrinding-surface keeps the cutters sharp. Gr is a casing, preferablyofmetal, which encloses the emerywhecl E on all sides, except a littlespace on the front to allow the' cutters to be successively presented.lhis caringl G stands at a little distance from the rapidly-revolvingsurface of the emery-wheel, and is lled with steam throughhthe pipe g,steam being supplied from a boiler, not represented.

The steam keeps the 'emery-wheel hot and damp, and the moisture impartedtothe cutters d d by the moisture of the emery-wheel, and by the smallquantityof steam which is allowed to escape from the aperturein thefront of the casing G, tends very eiTectually to prevent anyaccumulation of gummy matter on the cutters.

My machine treats the tobacco in a novel` manner previous to its issuingthroughthe mouth-piece B. On beingintroduced between the sides B B, itrests on a slowly-traversing endless apron,`H, which is carried on drumsh1 h2, as indicated in dotted lines in iig. 2. `The stock is fed forwardby this means, and is seized by two stout and accurately-turnedrollers,I' I2, shown in strong lines in figs. 1 and 3, and in dotted lines in g.2. These rollers are perfectly cylindrical, and fill very nearly `theentire space at that point between the sides B B, the sides beingrpeculiarly adapted at this point, as will be` described further on.Stout worm-wheels J1 J2 are ixedon the shafts of these feed-rollers,justoutside of the casing B' B, andtheirperipheries are simultaneously actedonby the single worm K, mounted in bearings on the outsidelof the casingB B, and connected so as, like the drums L h2, to receive a slowrotatory motion from the driving-shaft() by gearing of an ordinarycharacter,

which wI do not deem it necessary to represent, It may be suilcient tosay that the connection is made by gearing and worm-wheels, theconnection extending across under theiramework A.

It will be understood that this arrangement imparts a steady but taryslow rotatory movement to the feed rolls Il I2, and that a correspondingforward movement is given to the highly-compressed mass of tobacco whichis delivered through the same, and is urged forward to be cut onitscxitfrom the mouth-piece B. In order to properly confino the tobaccolaterally, I provide side-platesm m, of polished iron orother suitablematerial, which are introduced and form a lining, so to speak, to theside-pieces BB along the surface where the tobacco is being compressedby the rollers. One of these pieces detached, withvsome of the4 adjacentparts, is represented in iig. 4. A portion of each of these sideplatesis shown in g.3. Each side-plate extends into the diminishing spacevorbite between the rolls, and practically contines the width ofthe-'casing between which the tobacco.is confined to a width less thanthe cylindrical part of the feed-rolls I1 IZ. Just at the point wherethe tobacco is most compressed between the feed-rolls, that is to say,just in a line `between the axes of the feed-rolls Il Iz, theside-plates mm terminate. At this point, therefore, the tobacco, afterbeing held laterally to endure the full compressing action of the rollsIl I2, is relieved from further lateral pressure.l In other word's, thehighlycompressed and accurately-squared mass of tobacco is relieved frompressure, both laterally and vertically, as it passes the line ofcentres of the feed-rolls. llhence it is fed forward in a dense mass,enclosed in a suitable casing, M, both laterally and vertically,until'it reaches the mouth-pieceB. This mouth-piece, instead of being ofuniform size with 'the casing M, as has been the form of themouth-pieces of previous tobacco-machines, is contracted, so that thetobacco, instead of meeting with greatfresistance from friction duringits whole passage through the casing M, and-thus holding back theprogress of the entire mass, is relieved from pressure, except at themouth, and'is allowed to move freely, but it is tightly compacted andsupported on all sides just previous to its being acted on bythecutters.

I have tested this portion of my mechanism very carefully, and havefound it to produce an admirable effect. The tobacco is cut veryuniformly, and the feeding, as thus arranged, is very eiiicient anduniform.

I can gear my feeding-mechanism to feed las little or as much betweeneach stroke of the cutters as may be required for the several kinds orgrades to be produced. l I

My machine avoids some very serious diiculties incident totobacco-cutting machines heretofore employed. I may remark that thecutters of the ordinary tobacco-machines require to be removed andground after operating only about one minute. l

Some of the advantages due tocertainfeatures of my invention may beseparately enumerated, as follows:

First. By reason of the fact that my tobacco is fed forward by the-feed-rolls Ix I2, made of large size, either plain, as represented, orridged longitudinally, spirally, or otherwise, I am able tocompressefectually and without so much bending the material, as would berequired with small rolls acting on a small area, and can, by the greatsurface thus afforded, urge' forward the material eiliciently, and condeliver the tobacco to the cutters d din a highly compact form, and withavery uniform feed, without the crushing of the stock due to the jointsof chains or the like, and with very simple, cheap, anddurablemechanism. J I

Second. By reason of the fact that my passage through the early part ofthe casing M is larger than the space between the rolls Il I2, I allowthe tobacco to move forward without serious resistance from friction,while it is still sutiiciently guided and sustained, and by reason ofthe-fact that my throat B"is contracted at the point of cutting, Icompress the mass of tobacco, and thereby cause the cutto be unifor'mandprevent portions or ends of the leaves from being drawn through by thecutters in large pieces, instead of being finely cut.

Third. By reason of the fact that the sides B B diverge towardl thefeed-rolls, I secure an easy and gentle contact of the sides against thematerial, while I allow the material lto be packed between the sides bythe hands or otherwise, with all the force which is available, and, asthe tobacc'o moves forward, insure an easy and gentle contact of thesides, and only a slight resistance, due to friction against the same,while it is still eiicicntly guided and supported.

Fourth. By reason of the fact that the plates 'm m are tted closely tothe contour of the rolls, and lill the space between the `sameat eachend, as represented, Iam ableto produce a smoother and morefirmly-compressed edge to the mass to be forced forward through thecasing M, with less tine or thin material projecting beyond the corners,than would otherwise be possible with equally cheap and simple means.

Fifth. By reason of the fact that my cutters d d are acted on at eachrevolution by the emery-wheel E, I am able to maintain an extremelysharp cutting-edge on each cutter for a much longer period than is usualin tobacco-machinery.

Sixth. By reason ofthe fact that the steam received through the pipe ginto the casing .G is applied to moisten vthe surfaces ofthe cutters d dat each revolution, I am able to insure just a suicient degree ofmoisture on the cutters to prevent the adhesion of gummy or adhesivematter to the latter, without the deleterious eects which would arisefrom the presence of any considerable quantities of water on' thesurfaces.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desireto secure by Letters Patent is as follows: l

1. I claim the feed-rolls I I, conducting-case M, and-cutters d o?,combined as and for thc purpose herein set forth. l

2. I claim the contracted mouth-picce/B, adjacent to the cutterd,arranged as -represented relatively to the passage M and rolls Il I,as and for the purposes herein set forth. l

3. I claim the diverging sides B B off/the feed-box, as and for thepurpose herein specified.

4.4 I claim the plates m, constructed sind arranged relatively tothelfeed-box B B and feeding-devices II I2, as and for the purposesherein set forth.

5. I claim thc grinding-surfae,E,'arranged and operated relatively tothe cutters substantially as represented, so as to sharpen the knives orcutters d d while they are in operation, substantially as and for thepurpose herein set forth.` f

6. I claim the application ofvsteam tothe cutters rl d or theirequivalents previous 11o each cut2 by conducting the steam from a.boiler or the like into the Vcasing through or past which the cuttciSrevolve, substantiaiiy as and for the purpose herein set forth.

L. W. SPENCER.

Witnesses:

W. C DEY, i C. C.,LIv1NGs.

